HIRT, HERMANN

born Dec. 19, 1865, Magdeburg, Prussia died Sept. 12, 1936, Giessen, Ger. German linguist whose comprehensive Indogermanische Grammatik, 7 vol. (192137; Indo-European Grammar), remains influential. Earlier, Hirt had made original studies of accent and ablaut (vowel changes) in Indo-European. His concern with prehistory extended beyond language to the Indo-European people and their culture, which he treated in Die Indogermanen, 2 vol. (190507; The Indo-Europeans). The major part of his professional life was spent as professor of Indo-European philology and Sanskrit at the University of Giessen (191236).